Biological Parent

At some point in their life many adopted children become interested in finding a biological parent. Likewise, children who have never known one of their parents — usually the father — can develop the curiosity to know all about the birth parent, and perhaps try to connect with them.

Often, it is when adopted children become older that this interest in where they come from develops. Also, when they are still young, they may resist searching for a birth parent out of loyalty to their adopted parents or fear of hurting them.

But everyone has the right to know their heritage, to know where they come from. Adopted children can sometimes feel a sense of “incompleteness” without knowing both birth parents, and they might even wonder if they have sisters were brothers somewhere out in the world.

But adopted children today have more resources to locate their parents than at any other time before in history. The Internet is a wonderful tool for locating information about nearly anyone, making the task of finding a biological parent much easier. The following resources can assist you in finding information about a biological parent, and provide you with tips on how to search.

Adoption.com features a list of adoption reunion registries and adoption related classifieds to help locate a missing parent. There’s also an adoption reunion message board where information can be posted about a parent you’re looking for. The site has brought together many adoptees with their birth parents, and there are great resources here to make your search much easier.

Adoptions.com offers tons of information to get you started finding your birth parents. There are articles, forums, directories, newsletters and support groups. Adoptions.com even offers information on adoption-related legal issues, and tips on how to search.

There also various “investigator services” online who claim to be able to locate birth parents of adopted individuals. Most of these services require at least your birth certificate to begin their search, and often there is a large fee involved. One should take extreme care before deciding to contact one of these services, as unfortunately, there are also scam artists online who will use your personal information — and your money — for their own benefit.

Before using one of these agencies, it is highly recommended that you contact the Better Business Bureau to ensure they are a legitimate company. The truth is, even the legitimate investigators usually use the same adoption relocation web sites mentioned above. Considering this, you may simply opt to do the research yourself, saving a lot of money and ensuring that you don’t fall into the trap of an online scam artist.

Keep in mind before searching though, that not all reunions with birth parents go as beautifully and problem-free as you sometimes see on daytime television. It is good to prepare yourself for the possibility that a birth parent may resent the intrusion into their life. Of course this is not always the case, but sometimes it works out that way, so the adopted child should be at least prepared for this possibility.

Hopefully your reunion with a birth parent will be positive and lead to a real and honest relationship. Finding a biological parent can add a positive new dimension to your life, helping you to understand a little more about yourself and where you come from. Good luck with your search!